Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan drops the ball before running into the end zone Thursday. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Danny Trevathan did not return a Joe Flacco interception for a touchdown.

He should have. It looked like he did. But sure enough, the officials and Baltimore receiver Brandon Stokley saw first what TV replays showed everybody else a couple minutes later: A hot-dogging Trevathan dropped the ball about a yard short of the goal line on what should have been a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“It’s going to be on the Not Top Ten,” Trevathan said. “I’ll grow from it. First game.”

Give Trevathan a 29-yard interception return and lost fumble. Trevathan, in his first NFL start, made a great play on the ball while jumping the Flacco pass intended for running Ray Rice. But when Trevathan dropped the ball, he brought back memories of Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Leon Lett, who was returning a fumble for a touchdown in a route of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII in 1993.

Lett’s Cowboys were up 52-17 as he was running in for a touchdown. Shy of the goal line, Lett slowed up and hung the ball low in showboating fashion. From behind, hustling Bills receiver Don Beebe knocked the ball loose.

On Thursday, Trevathan appeared to give the Broncos a 49-17 lead. But he dropped the ball and it wound up a couple yards deep in the end zone. His linebacker teammate Wesley Woodyard, who thought Trevathan had scored, was bending down to pick up the ball but without any sense of urgency. From behind, a hustling Stokley dove for the fumble, knocking it out of the end zone for a touchback. Ravens ball.

The Ravens then marched down the field and scored. Instead of 49-17, it was 42-24 with 10:24 remaining. On the sideline, Trevathan got chewed out by the Broncos’ angry defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.

“He was telling me stupid play,” Trevathan said.

Woodyard suffered an ankle injury on the play and had to be helped off, although he returned a series later.